Tuesday Tidbits and Stuff

 The week has started off with a bang. Busy getting things used up, harvesting, canning, freezing, making jam and of course doing the usual tasks around the house.

I promised you all pictures of my projects that actually got finished (of course there are a few that haven't).

The reusable facial cleansing pads.

This is the bag of mittens I sent back with Kurt. And the following picture is how full 100 pairs of mitts make it.

Glad that is out of my sewing/craft room.

Scraps cut and ready to be stored away for future use.

My two shift dresses for the summer. Very simple pattern and I find this pattern one that is very cool to wear.

Cherries were picked and jam made. Hoping the second tree ripens before we leave so I can make cherry pie filling.

Dehydrating continues and I may actually be caught up on that until we return. 

I hope to make a half recipe of relish tomorrow. Must get out and pick some green tomatoes, and another cucumber or two.

I even pulled chicken stock out of the chest freezer and made a big batch of chicken veggie soup.

This is now in the molds and once frozen will be vacuum packed and put in the freezer. 

I hope to give you a tour of our backyard (or garden) tomorrow. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Tuesday Tidbits

 

Saskatchewan is still under an alert. The second and third alerts are no cancelled, just that one dangerous offender who stabbed all those innocent people. I do hope they catch him very soon. It is very wearing on ones nerves. 

I have been busy harvesting the garden. Today it was cucumbers and tomatoes (need to pick even more of these). Yesterday was beans and eggplant. The beans are frozen, pickles in a bucket made, eggplant washed dried and in the fridge. Tomatoes and the zucchini I was gifted will wait until tomorrow morning when I will shred the zucchini, and freeze the tomatoes or if I have enough make salsa. While I love having a full freezer and lots of fresh produce I sometimes wonder why everything has to come ripe at the same time. 

Tomorrow morning I will pick beans, bell peppers, and jalapeno's. There will be cherry tomatoes to pick and probably hidden tomatoes that I missed yesterday. 

I did my shopping a bit later than I like, but it is done and I don't have any intentions of entering a store for the rest of the week. Good thing as I think I might be a bit busy processing the garden.

Garden processing has kind of put working on the quilt on hiatus for a bit. I can still knit at night and once this second shawl is completed I can even work on Kurt's rug or some Christmas ornaments. I could gather the things necessary for Kris's quilt as well. Might as well be as ready as possible to get that done. 

Working our way through the leftovers in the fridge. The two small salmon fillets have been turned into a spread for sandwiches, the eggplant chickpea stew was eaten for supper tonight. There is a portion of eggplant parma that I will have for my lunch tomorrow and hopefully Harvey eats the last leftover smoked sausage. So we are doing well on the using leftovers up front. I may do another switch and make stuffed peppers for supper one day this week. Got to use those up as well. Whatever is left I will chop and freeze. 

It is also time to start taking cuttings from various vines, and perhaps to bring in those plants I want to overwinter. According to the weather reports we will be getting pretty close to freezing temperatures overnight late this week or early next. This also means it is close to the time we need to start winterizing our home. Busy time on the old homestead as the seasons change.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thursday Tidbits

It has been a week of harvesting the garden. Mostly beans and cucumbers but a few tomatoes, and green peppers have come into the house as well. 

So far I have 14 quarts of dills done, and 6 pints of hamburger dills. The green peppers were made into stuffed peppers for a few meals (one meal of which we have already consumed). 

We have had a few meals with green beans as one of the veggies and the rest have been blanched and put in the freezer.

Harvey says there are a couple of fairly large rutabagas out there as well so those will be cooked up for one of our side veggies this coming week. I am thinking roasted. The others will be waxed (if I figure out how to do so) and stored in the basement cold room for the winter. This is something I want to try instead of freezing them this year.

We have been lucky enough to get some rain over the last week and rain barrel is getting full once again. I should be able to water my pots and baskets for another couple of weeks. Things grow so much better with rain water.

I have been dehydrating as well and will continue tomorrow. The basil needs to be picked, and the same can be said for the parsley. I am hoping to do some more thyme, sage and oregano late next week.

Bread has been baked, but no sweets so that will need to be done before the end of the week as well. 

I enjoy this time of year even though it is busy. I love knowing that I am adding to the stores for the winter months.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

 

Busy, Busy

I have finally managed to catch up on a few things today. It seems as if the day slips by and everything I want done kind of gets away from me. Today, however, was a bit different.

My plans for the day actually came together. Yesterday was almost a total loss. I did get a bit done in the morning, before Harvey and I went for our yearly eye exam. I am beginning to hate having the eye drops to dilate my eyes. Last year the dilation lasted about half the day, yesterday however, it lasted most of the day. I was so tired from trying to focus and do even a bit of work that I crawled into bed at 8 and that was after falling asleep on the couch at 6 or so. Not a productive day at all. 

Since I missed the Thrifty Tuesday post I will do one now.

I have found some coupons to use when shopping this week online. Always nice when you can manage that.

Elastics from various veggies were washed and stored away. I have started to save bread clips now. I think that they could come in handy to hold cords and other bags closed for the freezer. Saves buying more clips or using up my clothes pins when they could be used elsewhere.

Trying for zero waste. Sometimes this works much better than other times.

Now on to what I accomplished today.

I had picked raspberries on Monday at a friends place and after asking Harvey what he would choose to do with them, I made jam.

Five fairly large jars that went into the pantry, and one smaller part jar that went into the fridge.

The cherries I had picked a few days ago (okay on Sunday) were turned into these.

Cherry muffins! However these taste much more like cupcakes than muffins. They are very tasty and I better get these put away before we eat them all in one go.

I love the fact that I can use things grown in my backyard to make tasty goodies for us.

I have been continuing with my walking every day. Not losing any weight, but I do believe I am losing inches which in my books is almost as good. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Saturday Roundup

While it really hasn't been that busy a week on the old homestead, the days have passed by in a blur. My Thursdays are spent at the church, as well as this past Monday afternoon. Add in two funerals and the days slip right on by.

I did manage to add to our winter stores this past week.

Four jars of pickled banana peppers.

Three bags of tomatoes for the freezer.

Six jars of bread and butter pickles. I still have more cucumbers so I need to do something with those this coming week.

Date night went well. We had a lovely supper at The Keg, and then went to the theater.

Theater in the round was a new experience for Harvey, but he loved it. I can foresee a few more trips to Regina to see more live shows. I only wish that one could take pictures during the show, but since you can't I will just say the music, singing, and choreography was wonderful. Finding a parking spot not so great. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

We actually have air conditioning in the church now, so it came as a surprise that the Mass did not take very long. I thought it might be longer as we no longer have to contend with people fainting, or to put it bluntly sweating so much they stick to the pews. Instead we were just over an hour, more what we are used to.

While the church started off cool, by the end of the Mass it was starting to get a bit humid. Probably from all the bodies attending. I just hope we can afford to keep the air conditioning running.

Todays homily (and the gospel) was about the "Good Samaritan" and Father brought up some points that I had missed over my lifetime. I never thought of the Good Samaritan as being Christ himself, or that the denarii could in fact represent our talents and treasures. It is making me rethink the whole parable.

Once home I made my mint jelly.

Six lovely jars. I will clean them up tomorrow and store them away in the pantry. We love this on ham.

These next two photos are from yesterday and my dehydrating. The dehydrating will be going on for the next few weeks, if not longer.

Three more trays of curly leaf parsley.

One tray of oregano, there will be more.

Tomorrow I hope to dry some thyme and some mint for winter tea. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

The Past Week In The Kitchen And Garden

The past week has been a busy one in the kitchen and garden. Harvesting has begun in earnest and processing everything that comes out of the garden is taking some time away from other projects.

First off I made relish.

This is Harveys' moms recipe which is wonderful. After having the chopped veggies sit overnight,  and draining them come morning the rest of the ingredients were added and cooked down.

I ended up with 11 full jars and one about half full. The half full one went into the fridge, the rest still need labeling and then storing away.

Picking beans was next on the list of harvest/kitchen jobs.

Right now we are eating the beans almost as soon as we pick them. This bag will give us a couple of meals now that they are washed and snipped. I have stored them in a bag in the fridge.

It was back out to the garden to pick yet more cucumbers (what on earth will I do with them all???? Pickles in a bucket coming up).

A few left over from relish making.

And these that hadn't been added to the bowl as of picture taking time.

I picked three green peppers but two were cut up and eaten with dip. 

So I only have this lonely fellow left to do something with. I think I just might slice it and put him the freezer. He will be joined by friends very soon.

I even managed to pick this small bowl of strawberries.

Harvey managed to gobble all these down pretty much right away.

I noticed lots of jalapenos, cayenne peppers and little green peppers. Should be picking lots of those. 

Tomatoes are eaten as fast as they ripen right now, but I am sure I will have lots to make salsa or freeze very soon.

Cucumbers will be gathered again by the end of the week. Some will be sliced to be eaten with dip, others gifted to those without gardens, and yet others made into those pickles in a bucket.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Busy Weekend

I promised you all pictures of what I had been up to this weekend and so I will.

Kris came home and so I needed to make items for a care package for him. Along with potatoes, corn and a cucumber from the garden I managed to send him back with lots of goodies.

First I made a cake. No picture cause it disappeared almost as soon as I took it out of the oven.

First off I made a double batch of Unbaked Cookies, some to fill the cookie jar and some for Kris to take with him.

Next were these beauties (Kris decided they were the best he had ever had fresh out of the oven) Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip. Once again half for him and half for us.

I didn't take a picture of the next batch of cookies I made. Snickerdoodles, so very simple and such a lovely smell.

All this baking occurred on Saturday while it was pouring rain. It is hard to read the rain gauge but at this point we had received 5 inches. By the time the storm had passed over us we had a grand total of 6 1/2 inches. We really needed it, but getting dumped on so quickly at times caused flooding in many areas of the city.

Sunday after Mass, I decided it was time to do something with those eggplant I picked.

The first 5 of 7 trays of Eggplant Parma. Six trays are in the freezer and one tray went back with Kris.

I also made a loaf of bread for him to take.

Then of course there were all the frozen meals I made him from leftovers.

I think he will be in good shape for awhile.

Today I made something I have never made before.

Simmering on the stove. I am so glad that food processors were invented. Mine made short work of chopping celery and onion finely enough for this recipe.

Some Chili Sauce for the winter.

I also dehydrated more basil and oregano today. My, the house smelled just lovely!!!!

Tomorrow will be more preserving and dehydrating. Must get as much done as possible before we leave on holiday. We never know when frost will hit and I would like to get as much out of the garden as we can before that happens. Saving money on groceries is my mantra this year.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thrify Tuesday

It has been a very quiet day around here. I spent a restless night and slept in a couple of hours this morning. I am hoping for a better night as tomorrow is going to be a busy one.

Harvey plans on going fishing and I will be busy stockpiling easy to cook meals for the winter. Thrifty and filling meals as they will consist of either free food or items from our garden for the most part.

I managed to use up some of the leftovers in the fridge and freezer making supper tonight. Gone is the package of frozen leftover pork roast. I also used up some cherry tomatoes, an onion from the garden, some of the celery in the fridge and the last of the green pepper I had picked awhile back. This made a lovely pork sweet and sour at very little cost.

The cost of our electric is going up this month so I am becoming more mindful of what lights are on and what I turn off when not in use.

This was my garden harvest this morning. The red peppers are drying now in the dehydrator, the jalapenos have been thinly sliced and pickled. The carrots are sliced and ready to be eaten in a meal later this week. The cukes are stumping me right now, but I am sure some will disappear in a cucumber salad this week as well. Tomatoes are frozen, but another batch was picked later this afternoon. I think some chili sauce is in our future!! A few pints will be enough.

I did a bit of mending as well. I had a hem coming down in a pair of trousers, and the underwire on a bra was poking through once again. I find mending to be soothing and keeps my clothing in tip top condition.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

The weather has drastically changed, from highs of 38 and 40 C to only reaching 20 C with a low tonight of only 8 C. Much more bearable in the house. So much so that I managed to get some canning and freezing accomplished.

Those wonderful free plums I received from my neighbour, got made into this.

Ten lovely jars of jam to be used this winter. Please excuse the messy counter top.

Tomatoes that we have picked over the last few days were blanched, peeled and packaged.

Four more bags to be put in the freezer and used in stews, chili, and spaghetti sauce this winter. We picked more today, so there will be plenty of toasted tomato sandwiches for lunch still.

Mass, was interesting today. Father Brian talked about Eucharist being food for our spirits, to help us grow in faith and community. How by partaking of the body and blood of Christ we enter into an intimate relationship with him. We have to accept him into our hearts and what he gives us could be thought of as fruits. How our hearts accept this, is shown by what fruits we pass on.  I am hoping that the fruits I disseminate are ones that our Lord would be proud of.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Jamming It

I managed to actually get some cherries this year (hopefully more to come). Last year was not a good one with only a very few appearing. The year before was awesome, but one morning I woke up to a denuded tree. The robins got them all before I could pick what I would have liked (you think the greedy things would have left a few). This year, probably because the pickings were so slim the majority of the robins have not flocked to fill their greedy gullets.

So this morning I headed out early and managed to pick quite a few.

A large square tupperware type container almost full!!!

What to do with my harvest?

I decided to make some jam.

The prepared fruit, sugar and pectin boiling away in my old dutch oven. I have had this pot since we were first married and just cannot seem to give it up.

The finished product. I would like to know one thing however. The recipe says I would get 6 full jars. Hmm, I only count 5 full jars and a partial jar.  Oh well, I have enough cherries left to make another batch tomorrow.

Summers richness to have during the cold of winter.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

After Mass today I quickly changed and headed out to the garden.

Harvest has begun in earnest on the old homestead. Today was getting together all those ingredients to make my MIL's relish recipe. The last jar of what I made two years ago is almost gone and Harvey just loves this. I enjoy making it as with some of the recipes I make that have been handed down from my Mother I feel an attachment to the older generation of family.


So I picked cucumbers...

Green tomatoes......

Green and red peppers (only got a picture of the green ones for some reason)....

 and some onions (which I did not get a picture of at all).

After a bit of time standing over the food processor (veggies washed and cut in chunks first), this is what I ended up with.

My large roaster full of the processed veggies. This was mixed with a bit of coarse salt and will sit overnight on my counter. Tomorrow morning I will drain off the liquid and start making this into lovely relish for the next few years.

We didn't stop at picking things there.

Harvey picked what remained of the kohlrabi.

Which after a bit of work became this.

Four packages of blanched kohlrabi which is residing in the freezer downstairs.

I also picked some zucchini and eggplant.

The oddly shaped zucchini was shredded and put in bags and in the freezer. The eggplant will be used this upcoming week to make a lovely meal.

This large zucchini was also shredded. I did not however put this one into the pot for freezing. Instead it resides in the fridge where it will hopefully over the next few days be made into loaves, cake and some muffins.

I think I may be fairly busy for the next little while!!!

I am a bit upset with blogger right now. The posts on my blog list are not always updating. I hope I don't miss any of your new posts, but if I do I will catch up with them. At least I hope so!!

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Project Update and Making Jam

My neighbour brought us more plums yesterday so I decided to make plum jam. Can't let that free fruit go to waste now can I. We are now the proud owners of 10 lovely jars of jam for the winter or to give as gifts to our sons.

Look at that lovely colour!!! We even have some for nibbling on.

I haven't had much time to do work on my counted cross stitch project, but I do try to do a bit each and every afternoon. I am taking little bites of this big elephant and will eventually get it done.

Here is what it looked like last week.

And this is how far I have managed to get this week.

I can see a slight difference, but the changing of colours every few stitches seems to take up much of my stitching time.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.